Eleven-year-old Kaitlyn Crabbe of Westerleigh holds up the red-belly piranha she caught in Brooks Pond while fishing with her grandfather.
(Photo Courtesy of Bob Crabbe)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - WESTERLEIGH - Bob Crabbe enjoys taking his two grandchildren, Kaitlyn, 11, and 6-year-old Connor Crabbe – who live across the street from him in Westerleigh – fishing in Clove Lakes Park.

Last week, just before the two headed back to school, he took them out to Brooks Pond, just off Clove Road and Forest Avenue.

After several attempts at casting their rods, Crabbe knew something "big" was on the hook. But he never imagined what Kaitlyn would reel in: A foot-long red-belly piranha.

"I knew it was a piranha by its jaw full of sharp teeth, and I knew it wasn't supposed to be in the pond," said Crabbe.

Although there's a "catch and release" policy at the pond, Crabbe was loathe to toss the exotic fish – which normally thrives in the Amazon – back in the water for fear it would prey on native fish. He also feared the piranha could surface to take a bite out of a human, or even a dog that might chase a ball into the pond.

Instead, he placed the fish in a plastic bag and brought it to the Staten Island Zoo, where senior keeper and aquatics specialist Walter Levendosky confirmed it was indeed a red piranha – so named because of its bright-red underbelly. The Zoo has about a dozen of the fish in its aquatic collection he said.

Levendosky said the fish, which is native to South America, and can grow as big as 18 inches, was likely purchased by a private owner and initially placed in a fish tank.

"It was probably purchased as a colorful little fish, but then when it got to big for the tank, and maybe started to devour the other fish, whoever owned it released it in the pond," he speculated.

Despite its fierce set of teeth, Levendosky didn't think the fish would be likely to take a bite out anything other than another fish. "Mostly they go after other fish, or if they smell something, like grub or bait. They spook easily and they like to lay low," he said.

Still, he said, it's best to exercise caution. "You wouldn't want to dangle a finger or toe in front of one."

View full sizeThanks to its array of sharp teeth, the red pirhana gets plenty of attention. Pirahna similar to this specimen of the Amazon region fresh water fish, smuggled into the U.S. and eventually released by their owners, have been found in the Potomac River and even as far north as Wisconsin. The fish's fearsome reputation is far larger than the actual danger it poses.

Crabbe said he reported his catch to the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), where, he said, a staffer in the agency's Bureau of Fisheries expressed surprise and said the agency would investigate.

Rodney Rivera, a spokesman for the DEC, said it's not the first report of a piranha caught by an angler in the five boroughs.

"Our normal response is to take note of the catch and discourage return of the fish to the pond or lake. If the fish were suspected of successfully reproducing we might perform additional surveys to determine the extent of the reproducing population," he explained.

Although he would not rule out the possibility that more piranha might be in the pond or in Clove Lake, Rivera said it's unlikely the fish would reproduce.

"There may be piranha as well as other non-native fish species in these lakes, illegally released, but since piranha are tropical fish there is low expectation they will reproduce," Rivera added.

He said state law prohibits releasing non-native fish into natural waters without a permit.

"It is illegal to place fish or fish eggs into the waters of New York State without a permit.

"Anglers catching these fish should exercise the caution they would use fishing for any fish with teeth and spines, and contact DEC Fish & Wildlife at 718-482-4922 if they suspect the fish caught is a piranha or other non-native fish species," Rivera said.